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Trend Higher for the Nasdaq will it Hold?

The trend higher for the Nasdaq-100 remains intact from a technical standpoint. The Tech Traders Founder Chris Vermeulen joins Jill Malandrino on Nasdaq to talk about if the trend will hold or reverse.

As a technical analyst and trader since 1997, I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles in stocks and commodities. I believe I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for investing and short-term swing traders. 2020 is an incredible year for traders and investors.  Don’t miss all the incredible trends and trade setups.

Subscribers of my Active ETF Swing Trading Newsletter had our trading accounts close at a new high watermark. We not only exited the equities market as it started to roll over in February, but we profited from the sell-off in a very controlled way with TLT bonds for a 20% gain. This week we closed out SPY ETF trade taking advantage of this bounce and entered a new trade with our account is at another all-time high value.

Ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others watch most of their retirement funds drop another 35-65% during the rest of this financial crisis going into late 2020 and early 2021.

Just think of this for a minute. While most of us have active trading accounts, what is even more important are our long-term investment and retirement accounts. Why? Because they are, in most cases, our largest store of wealth other than our homes, and if they are not protected during the next bear market, you could lose 25-50% or more of your net worth. The good news is we can preserve and even grow our long term capital when things get ugly like they are now and ill show you how. One of the best trades is one your financial advisor will never let you do because they do not make money from the trade/position but we do have a way for you or your advisor can take advantage of the market gyrations with our Technical Wealth Advisor investing signals.

If you have any type of retirement account and are looking for signals when to own equities, bonds, or cash, be sure to become a member of my Passive Long-Term ETF Investing Signals which we issued a new signal for subscribers.

Chris Vermeulen
Chief Market Strategies
Founder of Technical Traders Ltd.

Three Charts Every Trader and Investor Must See

Understanding the stock market and its potential through the use of technical analysis and historical price events has been proven repeatedly to outperform all forms of fundamental trading styles. The following is a story that walks you through my experience, the shift in my mindset and how I came to the conclusion that the three charts I share in this article are critical to your understanding of to make money in today’s market!

When I first learned to trade, I got all caught up with researching companies and finding the ones with the best earnings and future growth. I did that for several years after studying and following many “professional traders” who said it was the best way to trade and invest long term. We lost our shirts during the 2000 bear market by continuing to trade on fundamentals as stocks fell in value week after week. Even the companies that showed quarterly earnings growth fell in value – none of it seemed to make any sense to me, and it was very frustrating.

Losing money when buying the best companies made no logical sense, making me step back from the markets and ask myself, ‘what am I doing wrong here‘. People today are asking themselves the same question given today’s dizzying markets:

· Telsa shares fell from $971 a share down to $347, whopping 63% drop, in only a few weeks and then rebounded again too xx

· Netflix is down 30%, even though people are stuck at home desperately trying to find things to watch)

· Amazon has fallen 26% in the past couple of weeks despite soaring demand for their delivery services

· GDXJ, the gold miners sector that is typically a safe haven during times of volatility, crashed 57% even though gold is usually a safe haven during times of volatility.

So, what was I doing wrong? I started calling and visiting traders who were making money during the bear market to see what they were doing, and 100% of them were doing the same thing – Trading with Technical Analysis. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, per se. I was simply using the wrong tools and analysis for success!

What is Technical Analysis? In short, it’s the study of price, time, and volatility of any asset using price charts and indicators. Traders use technical analysis to find cycles and patterns in the market and trade on the analysis of preferred indicators as opposed to the fundamentals of a company and/or the economy in general.

When you start studying technical traders, you will notice every trader has a particular time frame, a preferred set of indicators, and trading frequency that fits their unique personality and lifestyle. Their brains can see the charts in ways you and I may not see them to predict future price direction over the next few hours, days, weeks, or months ahead. I quickly learned there are infinite ways to trade using technical analysis.

I was very surprised by how much these pro traders allowed me. While standing over their shoulders, I was looking at their charts to try to divine their high-level strategies and learn how they think, analyze, and trade. It was amazing how different each of them traded the market. Some traded currencies; others traded stocks, indexes, options, futures, etc. Most were day traders, swing traders, or a mix of the two. But none of them gave me their secret sauce. That is why I turned 100% of my focus to technical analysis. I was excited at the prospect of being able to profit from both rising and falling prices and no concern for anything other than price action reduced my research time dramatically. It was and is the biggest AH-HA moment of my life and a turning point for my career as a trader.

The year was 2001, when I made the shift to technical analysis. I unsubscribed from everything fundamental based. I canceled my CNBC, stopped listing to news, and stopped reading other people’s reports altogether. My goal was to create my own technical trading strategy that best suited my personality and lifestyle. I would have to discover the securities I was most comfortable trading, the frequency I would trade, and the type and amount of risk I was prepared to take.

I traded options, covered-calls, currencies, stocks, ETFs, and futures. From day trading to position trading (holding several months), I tried it all, hoping something would click for me to pursue at a much deeper level. Day trading, momentum, and swing trading were my sweet spots. Having three of them was a bonus as I know some traders only ever master one in their lifetime if they are lucky. I grew a liking for trading the major indexes like the DJIA, S&P 500, and Nasdaq… great liquidity with big money always at play.

Along my journey, I realized that if I could predict the overall market trend direction for the day or week, then I could day-trade small-cap stocks in the same direction as the index, knowing 80+% of the stocks follow the general stock market trend. I could generate much larger gains in a very short period of time. As time went on, I became comfortable predicting, trading, and profiting from the indexes, and my new trading strategy began to emerge.

I was fortunate enough to start learning about the markets and trading in college with a $2,000 E-Trade account, and then retiring (kinda) in 2009 at the age of 28. I built my dream home on the water, bought cars and boats, and spent time traveling with my growing family. I love trading and sharing my analysis with others – it is better than I had ever imagined and why I continue to help thousands of traders around the world every day with these video courses Trading System Mastery, and Trading As Your Business so you learn and make money from your home forever.

I contribute 100% of my trading success and lifestyle to the fact that I embraced technical analysis, where my strategy involves nothing more than price movement, position-sizing, and trade risk management techniques. All these allow me to easily reduce exposure, drawdowns, and losses with proper position sizing and protective strategies. If you want quick and simple, read about my journey and core trading tools in my book Technical Trading Mastery – 7 Steps to Win with Logic. My strategy is represented by human psychology and historical trading, as expressed in the three charts below.

CHART 1 – HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY IS WHAT DRIVES PRICE ACTION

This chart is my favorite as it explains trader and investor psychology at various market stages. It also includes a simplified market cycle in the upper right corner, letting you know where the maximum financial risk is for investors and the highest opportunity for a trade.

CHART 2 – 2000 STOCK MARKET TOP & BEAR MARKET THAT FOLLOWED

The chart may look a little overwhelming, but look at each part and compare it to the market psychology chart above. What happened in 2000 is what I feel is happening this year with the stock market sell-off.

In 2000, all market participants learned of at the same time was that there were no earnings coming from their darling .com stocks. Knowing they were not going to make money for a long time, everyone started selling these terrible stocks, and the market collapsed 40% very quickly.

What is similar between 2000 and 2020? Simple really. COVID-19 virus has halted a huge portion of business activity, travel, purchases, sporting events, etc. Everyone knows earnings are going to be poor, and many companies are going to go bankrupt. It is blatantly clear to everyone this is bad and will be for at least 6-12 months in corporate earnings; therefore, everyone is in a rush to sell their stock shares and are in a panic to unload them before everyone does.

CHART 3 – THE 2020 STOCK MARKET TOP LOOKS TO BE UNFOLDING

As you can see, this chart below of this year’s market crash is VERY similar to that of 2000 thus far, it’s based on a similar mindset, which is the fear of losing money, which causes everyone to sell their positions.

I am hopeful that we get a 25-30% rally from these lows before the market starts to fall and continue the new bear market, which I believe we are entering. Only the price will confirm the direction and major trend to follow, and since we follow price action and do not pick tops or bottoms, all we have to do is watch, learn, and trade when price favors new low-risk, high reward trade setups.

It does not matter which way the market crashes from here, we will either profit from the next leg down, or will miss/avoid it depending on if we get a tradable setup. Either cause is a win, just one makes money, while the worst-case scenario just preserves capital in a cash position, you can’t complain either way if you ask me.

Before you continue, be sure to opt-in to our free market trend signals 
before closing this page, so you don’t miss our next special report!

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

In short, is if you lost money during the recent market crash, then you likely have not mastered a technical trading strategy and do not have proper trade management rules in place. All traders must manage risk and trades to be sure you lock in profits and limit losses when prices start pullback or collapse. Without either of these, you will not be able to achieve long term success/gains, and that’s a fact.

While we can all make money during a bull market when stocks are rising, if you cannot retain or grow your account during market downturns, then you may as well be a passive buy and hold investors. You are better at riding the emotional investor rollercoaster without wasting your time and effort as a trader if you are not going to spend the time and money to learn to follow someone to become a successful trader. Without proven trading strategies or someone to follow, you are more likely to underperform a long-term passive investor.

I get dozens of emails from people every week trying to trade this wild stock market and use leveraged ETFs, which doing so during these unprecedented market conditions is absolute craziness if you ask me.

These people think that because there are big moves in the market, they should be trading. That big money should be made trading them, which drives me crazy because it could not be further from the truth unless you are a scalp or day trader. To me, in this market condition, it’s about preserving capital, not risking it, in my opinion.

A subscriber to my market video analysis and ETF trading newsletter said it perfectly:

“Always intrigues me how many amateur surfers get to the north shore beaches in Hawaii, take one look at monster waves and conclude it’s way too dangerous. Yet the amateur trader looks at treacherous markets like these and wants to dive right in!!” Richard P.

I have to toot my own horn here a little because subscribers and I had our trading accounts close at a new high watermark for our accounts. We not only exited the equities market as it started to roll over we profited from the sell-off in a very controlled way.

I hope you found this informative, and if you would like to get a pre-market video every day before the opening bell, along with my trade alerts, visit my ETF swing trading visit my website at www.TheTechnicalTraders.com.

Chris Vermeulen
Founder of Technical Traders Ltd.

NASDAQ Set to Fall 1000pts In Early 2020, and What it Means for Gold

One of our most interesting predictive modeling system is the Adaptive Dynamic Learning (ADL) price modeling system.  It is capable of learning from past price data, building price DNA chains and attempting to predict future price activity with a fairly high degree of accuracy.  The one thing we’ve learned about the ADL system is that when price mirrors the ADL predictive modeling over a period of time, then there is often a high probability that price will continue to mirror the ADL price predictions.

One of our more infamous ADL predictions was our October 2018 Gold ADL prediction chart (below).  This chart launched a number of very interesting discussions with industry professionals about predictive modeling and our capabilities regarding Adaptive Learning.  Eric Sprott, of Sprott Money, highlighted some of our analyses related to the ADL predictive modeling system in June and July 2019.  Our ADL predictive modeling system suggested a bottom would form in Gold near April/May 2019 and then Gold would rally up toward $1600 by September 2019, then rotate a bit lower near $1550 levels.

LISTEN TO WHAT ERIC SPROTT SAID ABOUT OUR ANALYSIS

OCTOBER 2018 GOLD FORECAST

CURRENT 2020 GOLD FORECAST

This next chart shows what really happened with Gold prices compared to the ADL predictions above.  It is really hard to argue that the ADL predictions from October 2018 were not DEAD ON accurate in terms of calling and predicting the future price move in Gold.  Will the ADL predictions for the NQ play out equally as accurate in predicting a downward price rotation of 1000pts or more?

CURRENT 2020 NASDAQ FORECAST

This NQ Weekly chart shares out ADL Predictive Modeling systems results originating on September 23, 2019.  The Price DNA markers for this analysis consist of 15 unique price bars suggesting the future resulting price expectations are highly probable outcomes (95% to 99.95%).  This analysis suggests the end of 2019 resulting in a broad market push higher in early 2020 may come to an immediate end with a downward price move of 800 to 1000+ pts before January 20~27, 2020.  The ADL predictive modeling system is suggesting price will be trading near 8000 by January 20th or so.

Only time will tell in regards to the future outcome of these ADL predictions, but given the current news of the US missile attack in Iraq and the uncertainty this presents, it would not surprise us to see the NQ fall below the 8000 level as this euphoric price rally rotates to find support before moving forward in developing a new price trend.

Pay attention to what happens early next week with regards to price and understand the 8000 level will likely be strong support unless something breaks the support in the markets over the next 30+ days.  Ultimate support near 7200 is also a possibility if a deeper downside move persists.

As we’ve been warning for many months, 2020 is going to be a fantastic year for skilled technical traders.  You won’t want to miss these opportunities in precious metals, stocks, ETFs and others.

We have a good pulse on the major markets and can profit during times when most others can’t which is why you should join my Wealth Trading Newsletter for index, metals, and energy trade alerts. Visit our website to learn how you can see what this research is telling us.

I am going to give away and ship out silver rounds to anyone who buys a 1-year, or 2-year subscription to my Wealth Trading Newsletter. You can upgrade to this longer-term subscription or if you are new, join one of these two plans listed below, and you will receive:

1oz Silver Round FREE 1-Year Subscription 
1/2 Gram Gold Bar FREE 2-Year Subscription

SUBSCRIBE TO MY TRADE ALERTS AND 
GET YOUR FREE BULLION ROUNDS!
Free Shipping!

Chris Vermeulen

US Indexes Continue To Rally Within A Defined Range

This week ended with the S&P, Dow Industrials and Nasdaq stalling near recent highs.  From a technical perspective, both Thursday and Friday setup small range price bars (Doji candles or small Spinning Top type bars) after the upside price move on Wednesday.  These are indicative of price consolidation and indecision.

The news events that initiated this rally, nearly a week ago, continue to drive sentiment in the markets.  Yet the news from the ECB that new stimulus efforts would begin with $20 Billion Euros monthly invested in assets until they decide it is not required any longer suggests the EU is desperate to support extended growth and some renewed inflation.  This move by the EU pushed banks and the finance sector higher while the US stock market stalled near the end of the week.

At these lofty levels, almost all of our indicators and predictive modeling systems are suggesting the US stock markets are well within an overbought mode.  Of course, the markets can continue in this mode for extended periods of time as central banks and external efforts to support the asset/stock market continues, at some point investors/traders will recognize the imbalance in price/demand/supply as a fear of a price contraction.

We are very cautious that the market is setting up a lofty peak at this time.  It is important for traders and investors to understand the global situations that are setting up in the markets.  With precious metals moving higher, it is important to understand that FEAR and GREED are very active in the markets right now.  The continued capital shift that has been taking place where foreign investors are shifting assets into US and more mature economies trying to avoid risks and currency risks is still very active.  Yet the lofty prices in certain segments of the US stock markets means that this capital shift may take place where investment capital is shifted away from more risky US assets (high multiple speculative stocks) and into something that may appear to be undervalued and capable of growth.

The shifting focus of the global markets, the EU and the continued need for stimulus at this time is somewhat concerning.  Our view is to watch how the global markets play out and to maintain a cautious investment strategy.  We shifted into an extremely cautious mode back in February/March as the US market completed the October/December 2018 breakdown and precious metals started a move higher.  We continue to operate within this extremely cautious investment mode because we believe the foundation of the global markets are currently shifting and we don’t believe the stability of the markets is the same as it was after the February 2017 market collapse.

What do we believe is the result of this shift in our thinking?  This is very simple.  We are entering into the final 13+ months of the US presidential election cycle, the trade wars between the US and China continue to drag on with is muting economic activity, the EU continues to battle to find some growth/inflation while Great Britain attempts to work out a BREXIT deal as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, we continue to try to find opportunities in the markets with these extreme issues still pending.  We don’t believe any real clarity will happen until we near October/November 2020. Be sure to opt-in to our Free Trade Ideas Newsletter to get more updates.

This ES Weekly chart highlights the range-bound price rotation that currently dominates the US stock market.  Overall, the US stock market and the economy are much stronger than any other economy on the planet.  The risk factor is related to the fact that the capital shift which has been pushing asset prices higher as more and more capital flows in the US stock market may have reached a point of correction (headed into the US presidential election cycle).  As long as price stays within this range, we believe continued extreme volatility will continue.  Our Fibonacci system suggests price must close above 3178 to qualify as a new bullish trend and/or close below 2577 to confirm a new bearish trend.

This Transportation Index weekly chart shows a similar setup.  Although the Fibonacci price trigger levels are vastly different.  Price would have to climb above 11,475 to qualify for as a new bullish trend whereas it would only have to fall below 10,371 to qualify as a new bearish trend.  Given the past rotation levels, it is much more probable that price may rotate into a bearish trend before attempting to reach anywhere near the bullish price trigger level.

Our Custom volatility index suggests price has rallied last week well into the upper “weakness zone”.  This move suggests the upside price move may already be well into the overbought levels (again) and may begin to stall.  Traders need to be cautious near these level.  We continue to suggest that skilled technical traders should look to pull some profits from these lofty levels to protect cash/profits.  Any extreme volatility and/or a bigger price rotation could be disastrous for unprepared traders.

We are excited to see what happens early next week.  News will be a big factor – as it always is in this world.  Pay attention to how the markets open early this week and keep your eyes open for any crisis events (wars, bombings or other geopolitical news).  And get ready for some really big volatility to hit the global markets.

This is the time for skilled technical traders to really shine as these bigger moves roll on.

As a technical analysis and trader since 1997, I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles. I believe I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for both short-term swing trading and long-term investment capital. The opportunities are massive/life-changing if handled properly.

So, if you believe in technical analysis, then this is the newsletter and market condition for you to really shine, especially with my trading indicators coming online.

Be prepared for these price swings before they happen and learn how you can identify and trade these fantastic trading opportunities in 2019, 2020, and beyond with our  Wealth Building & Global Financial Reset Newsletter.

Join me with a 1 or 2-year subscription to lock in the lowest rate possible and ride my coattails as I navigate these financial market and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own during the next financial crisis.

I can tell you that huge moves are about to start unfolding not only in currencies, metals, or stocks but globally and some of these supercycles are going to last years. A gentleman by the name of Brad Matheny goes into great detail with his simple to understand charts and guide about this. His financial market research is one of a kind and a real eye-opener. 2020 Cycles – The Greatest Opportunity Of Your Lifetime 

FREE GOLD OR SILVER WITH SUBSCRIPTION!

Chris Vermeulen – www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

VIX Cycles set to explode in March/April 2017 – Part 2

Previously, I authored a “Part 1” of this article regarding my analysis of the VIX cycles.  I sincerely hope my readers enjoyed the analysis and I hope it opened up a few questions regarding the potential moves in the US and global markets.  Today, we will delve deeper into the concept of the VIX cycle patterns that I’ve identified and use common technical analysis concepts to attempt to identify price target levels as well as support and resistance that may become important in the immediate future.

 

For those of you that missed “VIX Cycles set to explode in March/April 2017 – Part 1”, please click on this link to review my earlier analysis.  When you are ready, the rest of this article continues my analysis.

 

As we had been discussing in “Part 1”, my hypothesis that a 5 month VIX cycle pattern exists and has been driving market volatility since 2015 appears to be substantiated by historical chart evidence.  The other interesting facet of this 5 month pattern is that it appears to be quickening in relation to recent activity.  I stated earlier that I believe this pattern to be a 18~22 week cycle event, but more recent VIX chart activity shows the current range may be more like 16~20 weeks.  My understanding of cycles and patterns is that within extreme, potentially violently, volatile periods, price cycles may become more frequent and velocity may become more volatile.  An example of this can be found in my long-term US major market cycle analysis below.

 

This image maps a major market cycle rotation process that has been in place for over 60 years.  This image starts in the late 1970s and maps TOP and BOTTOM cycling events and well as potential early and late stage cycle ranges.  When the GREEN and YELLOW levels, near the top, move above the 80% range, this starts the “Topping cycle event”.  When both of these levels fall below the 80% range, this ends the “Topping cycle event”.  The opposite is true for the BLUE and RED levels.  When both of them fall below the 20% level, this starts a “Bottoming cycle event”.  When they both leave the 20% level, this ends the “Bottoming cycle event”.  Actual price tops and bottoms can, and often do, occur within these event ranges.

 

US Cycle Chart

TopBottom2

Price and event cycles have been in place for centuries and correlate with other traditional forms of technical analysis easily.  For example, Elliot Wave, Fibonacci, Price Channeling and Price Patterns all relate to cycles very well.  Within this article, I’m using Price Patterns as well as Fibonacci to attempt to project and identify key target, support and resistance levels based on my understanding of the proposed VIX cycles.

 

Recent price expansion from the lows at $868.47, January 2016, prompted a rally to $1194.60, on April 25, 2016.  This range, $326.13, represents an expansion cycle and a Fibonacci range that we can use to determine Fibonacci cycle frequency – which may help us determine future price objectives.  After this peak, price dropped 25% of this range (a common Fibonacci level that is correlated to a real Fib value of 0.272) equaling $81.53.  Because of this narrow retracement, we should expect a potential future price move equaling 1.272%, 1.618% or 1.768% of the existing range.  XOI rallied to $1259.56 on December 12, 2016 – equating the expected 1.272% price expansion we projected and setting up for a 0.768% total range retracement.

 

Let’s take a look at one example – OIL (XOI)

XOI_Weekly

 

Last week followers, subscribers and I got long 3x long energy fund – ERX.

call

 

In 24 hours we locked in a 7.7% partial profit, and are now sitting with 10+% gain on the balance. This special setup I call the Momentum Reversal Method (MRM) continues to be in play and we could experience another 20-35% gain from here.

 

What does all this technical stuff mean? After this bounce we should expect XOI to fall back to near $976.00 before attempting any further price moves.  All of this type of Fibonacci work is conducted by understanding how Fibonacci price relationships correlate to time/price/cycle frequency functions.  Many of the best analysts of the past had detailed understandings of how these correlations work and how price would react based on larger and longer term time/price/cycle events.

 

Stay Tuned For Gold & Silver Forecast Next – Part 3

And Join My Newsletter for Real-Time Trade Alerts!

www.ActiveTradingPartners.com

New Highs For 2017? Yes, But When Do I Enter?

When the SPX breaks out above its’ current resistance level, it will be the next leg up in this bull market. We are currently in a consolidation period. The SPX seems to be resting for now!  The “Bollinger Bands Squeeze” is now taking hold and will result in a powerful move in either direction once broken.  I do have a new BULLISH trigger for members to enter into during this amazing “melt up” that will only be shared with my ‘elite members’.   I can assure you that you will want to be invested in this next BULLISH leg of the SPX!

 

The Next Move UP!

j201

j202

 

‘Bollinger Bands’ are one of my most preferred tools of technical indicators:

The “Squeeze”,(http://www.investopedia.com/articles/technical/04/030304.asp?lgl=bt1tn-baseline-below-textnote)  occurs during low levels of volatility as the ‘Bollinger Bands’ narrow. These periods of low volatility are followed by periods of high volatility. Therefore, a volatility contraction of the bands can foreshadow a significant advance or decline.  This is one of my best kept secrets of technical analysis, until now!

j203

 

 

Financial markets are now awaiting what the new Trump Administration has in store. These markets do not like “uncertainty”. So far, President-elect Trump has announced a direction of deregulation and lowering the tax bracket for corporations and repatriation of all corporate money (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/repatriation.asp) that is held overseas in foreign bank accounts.

The ‘ISI Research Study’ revealed that the “U.S. S&P 500 companies now have $1.9 trillion parked outside the country”.  Most likely, said funds will be applied so as to continue the stock buyback program thereby pushing the SPX to new levels that are ridiculously overpriced. Hot money ‘continues to be supporting the rise in equity markets. I share some of these hot money sectors and stock on my StockCharts.com public list!

 

Trump’s Victory Speech on November 9th, 2016:

“We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it. We will also finally take care of our great veterans”.

 

Chart of the SPX “melt-up’:

j204

Are there too many happy investors?

The U.S. stock markets have been on a run since the U.S. Presidential election last November 9th, 2016.

U.S. stocks continue to see signs of “optimistic extremes”. The risk of buying on emotional decisions is still currently high.

There is no interest in shorting. The number of shares sold short, in hopes of buying them back at a lower price, has collapsed. The SPY fund (https://us.spdrs.com/en/product/fund.seam?ticker=SPY), short interest is the lowest since the summer of 2007.  Individual stocks are also showing a lack of short sales which, in turn, removes a pool of potential buying interest. A “de-trended” version of the short interest ratio has dropped to a level that has led to negative returns for stocks which will happen, but likely not for many month yet. The market is likely to grinding higher before a big correction takes place.

A new high presented itself on a day that the jobs report missed expectations. On January 6th, 2017, the jobs report came in less than what economists’ expectations were.  However, the SPX powered to a new high of 2276.06.  This may seem like good news, but during prior times that this occurred, stocks usually pulled back over the following weeks.

Stocks have drifted higher even after optimism reached an extreme. ‘Dumb Money Confidence’ exceeded 80% but the SPX has added on more gains without any kind of pullback. This type of buying pressure, after an extreme optimism sentiment, has previously occurred only a handful of times. It has usually led to losses as the late buyers became “exhausted”.

 

Investor confidence is so High they see no need to hedge their positions:

The Equity Hedging Index has declined to its’ lowest level in nearly two years, showing a lack of interest in the various ways that investors use to protect themselves from possible market declines.

j205

This chart is a contrary indicator. The higher the Equity Hedging Index, the more likely it is that stocks will rally going forward.  The lower the Equity Hedging Index, the less likely that stocks will rally.

 

 

                                                                                                              Conclusion:

Hopefully, Trump’s business experience will translate well into his new position. It is certainly my hope that he is as successful as possible. Even during the campaign Trump spoke about how stocks were in a giant ‘bubble’.  This euphoria that we have felt, since his election victory, has made that ‘bubble’ even larger. Throughout U.S. history, every ‘giant financial bubble’ has always ended very badly, and this time around will not be an exception. Trump may get the blame for it when it bursts, but the truth is that the conditions for the coming crisis have been building for a very, very long time.

I expect the stock market to stall out mid way this year in June/July at which point things could turn south. If you want to follow me live at StockTwits.com

Join my free trading newsletter at www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

U.S. Bonds Bounce?

The Commercial Hedgers are considered the smart money. The Speculators are considered the dumb money.

The rise in yields corresponds with the decline in Treasury prices.  A bounce is ahead of us in 2017.

Commercial traders have built up their most bullish position since February of 2013.

Commercial traders are now long 50% more long than they are short. This is the most bullish COT Ratio reading since July of 2011.

The speculative side of this trade have built up their most concentrated short position since February of 2013 and their largest net short position since March of 2012. The speculators are usually wrong. They set their recent COT Ratio high two weeks before the market topped out. The concentration of their short position should give pause to new short sellers.

The technical picture suggests a bounce is due.

 

BOND RISK LEVELS

Latest Value(s):

  • Last Reading: 2.0 December 27th, 2016

Extreme Values:

  • Excessive Optimism: 8.0
  • Excessive Pessimism: 2.0

bb1

 

 

BOND OPTIX WEEKLY

Latest Value(s):

  • Last Reading: 33.0 December 23rd,, 2016

Extreme Values:

  • Excessive Optimism: 70.0
  • Excessive Pessimism: 40.0

bb2

 

 

The Treasury prices are oversold on the March 30-year Treasury Bond futures.

The evidence is displayed with the buyers of US Treasury Bonds. I side with the commercial traders. The dramatic imbalance in positions between the commercial and speculative traders suggests a bounce higher is imminent.

bb3

 

My Elliot Wave Of Bonds – TLT:

Elliott Wave 2 Theory

Elliott Wave (2) is the first correction against the new trend

Elliott Wave (2) corrects wave (1), but can never extend beyond the starting point of wave one. Typically, the news is still bad. As prices retest the prior low, bearish sentiment quickly builds, and “the crowd” haughtily reminds all that the bear market is still deeply ensconced. Still, some positive signs appear for those who are looking: volume should be lower during wave two

Elliott Wave 3 Theory

Elliott Wave (3) is usually the strongest and longest wave

Elliott Wave (3) is usually the largest and most powerful wave in a trend. The news is now positive and fundamental analysts start to raise earnings estimates. Prices rise quickly, corrections are short-lived and shallow. Anyone looking to “get in on a pullback” will likely miss the boat. Trading the Wave (3) is usually the most profitable.  This will be a muti-year rally!

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In Conclusion:

The new year of 2017 will not be a good one for global economies.  There will be a big slowdown throughout the global economies. The equity markets, as well, will be extremely negative in 2017.  The next yearly closing should be at a low level. The low of 2016,1800 in SPX, may be breached. The analysis is trying to say yes!  Be prepared to exit your long stock positions at the midpoint of 2017 and enter “safe havens”. See my gold forecast – Click Here

Bonds should start to rise and hold up through 2017. But will only rally in a big way once there is a major global event/crisis or the later stages of a bear market in US equities. Either way, likely not going to happen till late 2017 or beyond.

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Chris Vermeulen

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AAPL Looks Ready Bounce & the Next Best Trade Ideas

AAPL shares have been in free fall mode all October spooking investors with a $120 drop from the all-time high in September. As well all know, though it’s hard to follow without a proven trading strategy to keep us focused but the key is that you must buy when others are selling and then sell when everyone is buying.

Apple shares really have helped in holding the overall stock market up in the past but recently it has been a big drag on the broad market. Taking a look at the chart below you can see my analysis and thoughts of this giant.

The red horizontal line shows the key level where high volume traded in the past. For the market to reset (flush out investors/traders) it must shake as many longs out before it can start rising again. By the price breaking below that level which also happens to be a Century Number $600, most of the stops were placed down around this level. The volume spike of 40,000,000 shares clearly shows it triggered stops once that $600 level was broken. We want stops run because it give more power to the next rally/bounce.

AAPL Shares Bottoming

 

NASDAQ Index:

The NASDAQ has formed a similar chart pattern and is heavily weighted with AAPL shares. Trading NQ futures, QQQ, QLD or the XLK exchange traded fund as a much more affordable way to play a bounce/rally in the coming weeks.

NDX - QQQ Shares Bottoming

 

Russell 2000 Index:

I really like the Russell 2000 index because small cap stocks can rally hard and fast outperforming the large caps like AAPL, SP500, NASDAQ and DOW. This index is looking ripe for a bounce in the coming days which could trigger the next major rally to new highs. You can plan this index through TF futures contract, IWM, TNA, UWM exchange traded funds.

IWM - TNA Funds Bottoming

 

Trading Conclusion:

While this setup looks very promising because the election is almost over and the Santa Clause rally is just around the corner. Know that some of the biggest drops in the market happens during times when the market is running the stops. It is a natural tendency to take big positions which things look great, but that is not how you do it… Take calculated position sizes knowing indexes could fall another 2-3% before putting in a real washout bottom.

Get My Trade Alerts at: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen